I would like to start a discussion about the new scenographic editor. The purpose would be to exchange experiences made, and to work on something like an introductury tutorial, howto, and best practices using the SE.

Personally, I have not come utterly far until now, but I am working on. If people already created scenarios, screenshots, or even movies, would be great.

As far as the SE is concerned, I have been using it quite a while only achieving minimal results. One have to take into account that graphic editors are roughly as familiar to me as the code of a Unix device driver to an average gamer.

I am fully aware that such stuff cannot be explained in five minutes. What I'm looking for would be a step-by-step guide for getting started and progressing towards creative and fascinating scenarios.

If you enter the SE as a complete newcomer, you are asked to enter a scenery name, which is trivial. After that, you may be getting lost already. Well, if you come to browse the graphic elements (shapes) offered, you may or may not find something useable intuitively. But you may be struck down by the variety of only partially (if at all) usable stuff as well. When starting in the wrong place, for example, in city elements, you may get completely lost. I have not figured out til now how to combine the shapes of the cities' sets into a complete house much less a street or a square.

To put it more systematically: You learn to open a scenario defining a top-level data structure (scenario, private or public), fine. Below is the hierarchy group, but it remains somewhat unclear why groups do exist at all and how to define and edit the first and subsequent ones and how to combine them (ok, one may imagine, but examples for useful group combinations would help).

And then you have the lowest hierarchy level, shapes, three-dimensional graphic elements being thematically organized. This distinction (shape groups) is more or less self-explanatory/speaking, but often rather less (the naming should be worked on, no criticism intended, and an index of shape groups togetger with some documentation and explanation would help a lot). The shapes proper are not uncomplicated, either. Some shapes are "complete", such as plants, water, certain buildings, many generic shapes. Some shapes do not appear at all if you try to activate them.

Other shapes, such as mobs, appear as transparent white structures. I do not know if such a mob may be "dyed" (eg White Kitin of the Depths, green or red-and-white Kiro etc.) and how, and whether he/she/ it moves, or even attacks, afterwards. Or whether you can modify the weapons and may wield/store/exchange them. Probably I am doing the twentieth step before the first one with such considerations.

But right there is my problem: I do not see how a graphics beginner may start. learn and advance, how to fail, learn, correct. The SE certainly is a powerful tool, but what I am missing is a tutorial for the unexperienced starter (when introducing somebody to C, I am starting by hello world, and not by double indirection of an array of function pointers - everyone would be running away screaming if I did) . From my part this is not a complaint or whining about something not yet existing, rather an attempt of analyzing the problem and attempting a project proposal how to get people interested in this tool avoiding unnecessary frustration and finding a way to familiarize with it. I'm sure the SE is a powerful tool, but the way it is looking so far, I do not know if it is motivating a lot of players. But it would be a pity if it could not.

100% I agree with Daomei's words. I'm excited about the editor and the player creativity that can be explored with it. Though I am fairly adept with a complex 3D editor, I am a bit frustrated with my lack of understanding of this one, mostly in regards to the shape names and mechanics of some shapes. I would really appreciate any help or direction you can give, whenever that might be possible.

You guys do a wonderful job! Thank you for all the possibilities you create by opening this editor to us.

If you enter the SE as a complete newcomer, you are asked to enter a scenery name, which is trivial. After that, you may be getting lost already. Well, if you come to browse the graphic elements (shapes) offered, you may or may not find something useable intuitively. But you may be struck down by the variety of only partially (if at all) usable stuff as well. When starting in the wrong place, for example, in city elements, you may get completely lost. I have not figured out til now how to combine the shapes of the cities' sets into a complete house much less a street or a square.

To put it more systematically: You learn to open a scenario defining a top-level data structure (scenario, private or public), fine. Below is the hierarchy group, but it remains somewhat unclear why groups do exist at all and how to define and edit the first and subsequent ones and how to combine them (ok, one may imagine, but examples for useful group combinations would help).

I hope this is basically covered in my video. My largest group has 500+ shapes in it. They are useful to separate things you want not to edit accidentally or just like you would sort files into folders, you sort shapes into groups at your preference to keep the overview.

Daomei

And then you have the lowest hierarchy level, shapes, three-dimensional graphic elements being thematically organized. This distinction (shape groups) is more or less self-explanatory/speaking, but often rather less (the naming should be worked on, no criticism intended, and an index of shape groups togetger with some documentation and explanation would help a lot). The shapes proper are not uncomplicated, either. Some shapes are "complete", such as plants, water, certain buildings, many generic shapes. Some shapes do not appear at all if you try to activate them.

Yes, a noticeable amount of shapes is not useful at the moment as they are.In the beginning I just run around an spammed shapes, to find out what they are and if they work (have a texture).

Daomei

Other shapes, such as mobs, appear as transparent white structures. I do not know if such a mob may be "dyed" (eg White Kitin of the Depths, green or red-and-white Kiro etc.) and how, and whether he/she/ it moves, or even attacks, afterwards. Or whether you can modify the weapons and may wield/store/exchange them. Probably I am doing the twentieth step before the first one with such considerations.

If their own textures are not found, most shapes show a transparent texture with large white arrows on it. So glowing white or invisible shapes are mostly texture related bugs. The Scenario Editor part is announced, it’s needed for mobs/npc with ai (moving etc.), as far as I understand. I don’t know if the weapon shapes will ever be equable, at the moment they are only useable as decoration.

Daomei

But right there is my problem: I do not see how a graphics beginner may start. learn and advance, how to fail, learn, correct. The SE certainly is a powerful tool, but what I am missing is a tutorial for the unexperienced starter (when introducing somebody to C, I am starting by hello world, and not by double indirection of an array of function pointers - everyone would be running away screaming if I did) . From my part this is not a complaint or whining about something not yet existing, rather an attempt of analyzing the problem and attempting a project proposal how to get people interested in this tool avoiding unnecessary frustration and finding a way to familiarize with it. I'm sure the SE is a powerful tool, but the way it is looking so far, I do not know if it is motivating a lot of players. But it would be a pity if it could not.

In the last few weeks I promised some people to make a tutorial, when the crashes are fixed.

Tutorial video episode 2 will be about: - spawn apartments and place/resize decoration in it (easy part)- creating a building with outside and inside, to walk in with the char (advanced)- What do you wish for? It’s up to your feedback ;)

besides having some way to 'preview' an item before you click on it, (which is easy enough to delete it once you make it appear), It would be awefully nice to have a way to delete an item by right-clicking on it later. There is features to edit, or 'Move, rotate, and scale,' but if there was a delete button also, it would make life so much easier rather than having to find the item in the box of spawned items which may be a lengthy list, plus, you might delete the wrong item there. :(

besides having some way to 'preview' an item before you click on it, (which is easy enough to delete it once you make it appear), It would be awefully nice to have a way to delete an item by right-clicking on it later. There is features to edit, or 'Move, rotate, and scale,' but if there was a delete button also, it would make life so much easier rather than having to find the item in the box of spawned items which may be a lengthy list, plus, you might delete the wrong item there. :(

Also, maybe an 'Undo' button which undos things one at a time?

+1 for all of your ideas :)

To identify a shape in the scenes list, first save and then modify the collision slightly or move z of the shape with right click menu, the edited shape will be red in the list, instead of beige till the next save.

It would be great if we could mark shapes in some way, at least 2 kinds of marks, one for broken shapes and one for favorite shapes.It would also be nice, if we could see other users markings (ratings, tags).

How would it be if users could contribute preview images to shapes? All you would need to do is give us the ability. ;)

Quote from Tamareas' post: Forums>Official news>Opening of ARC to the players: {One step closer to "Power to Players"Thanks to the forthcoming opening of the Scenographic Editor and then the Scenario Editor, both components of the Ryzom Arkitect authoring tool, we are taking another step towards "Power to Players" which, more than ever , remains our motto.}

I seemed to over look this sentence, it says next you will open a 'Scenario Editor' after the Scenographic editor? What is a Scenario Editor and is it related to opening ARC to the players? How does it work and what will the procedure be to actually allow new Scenarios into the game at this point? Please remind us. Or is it only for the Scenes the players create?

Virg had a good idea about a Frippos boss as well as a new NCP marauder boss that drops MA iirc, so i am wondering, if a player has a good idea, how do we get it incorporated into the game? What will the procedure be? We need to make it easier, for when they do make it, how do they get it OK'd and put into the game? Or is the Scenario Editor just for the player made Scenes with the Scenographic Editor? Maybe I am going beyond the scope of this post, Sorry if I am.